Perhaps more than any other social type, the figure of the yuppie is associated with 1980s America. Hollywood cinema of the decade is widely seen to have celebrated these young upwardly-mobile professionals on the screen. However, in this session students will consider how films of the decade actually demonized this figure.

Learning Outcomes

A sound understanding of:

1. The figure of the Yuppie

2. Yuppies-in-Peril

3. Die Yuppie Scum

Preparation

Reading: Grant, 4-16.

Questions:

1. What was the Yuppie?

2. What were the yuppies-in-peril films?

Home Screening I: Desperately Seeking Susan (1984)

Home Screening II: Pretty in pink (1986)

Questions:

• How do these films depict yuppies?

• To what extent do they celebrate them?

• To what extent do they critique them?